Lol.. Very, very unlikely. Especially considering you can pass POST, let alone how far you can get into the install process before it freezes.

So much for the "professionals."

Sounds like it's time for a new laptop. :P

I've had the cable-split problem before on an old Toshiba, and after replacing the cables, I got nothing but backlight.. Turns out that I didn't secure...

Usually not the likely culprit, but I've seen it before -- make sure that the processor is seated correctly after the drop.

Whoa now, hang on there.

Don't go ripping up the back of your LCD assembly to find the backlight if you don't know what you're doing.

The CCFL tube is usually located down near the bottom of...

Highly doubt that's the case Rue, that's something that's kind of hard to "accidentally" do. Also, the monitor in that case typically doesn't just turn off the backlight (which is a CCFL tube, not...

Without a picture of the thingy, I have no idea.

There seem to be lots of thingies on inverters.

If the new one produces the same result, it's the backlight.

If your next inverter doesn't work either, it could be that your backlight has gone out.

If you have a second laptop that has an inverter with the same connectors, you can switch them out.

Otherwise, just assume it's a bad inverter and pick up a new one on eBay for 15-45 dollars. ...

When you say that you "log on into your computer," do you mean that you're logging into your OS and then the screen goes black? Or that you're powering on the machine and not getting any video?

Next time, you could also try booting up into a knoppix OS from a CD and just creating a new boot.ini from scratch in the appropriate directory.

It's possible to do this, even with a laptop's video cables -- just cut it and splice in more wire for both ends -- but it would probably be less of a hassle for you to go with jbennet's suggestion.

Shine a flashlight onto the screen while it's doing this. Do you see a faint image?

I use a 30W Soldering iron as well -- I've never had a problem with burning the board, just make sure you use rosin core solder or a good bit of paste and do the deed quickly and cleanly.

The...

Run Memtest to check the integrity of your RAM, and clean out your fan's heatsink to ensure that this isn't the cause of overheating.

The first step is to make sure that you reseated the video cable properly.

If you're handy with a screwdriver, have some soldering experience, don't mind potentially wrecking your board and the DC jack isn't faulty internally, you can do the repair yourself. Just...

Hit F8 when you start up the computer, after the Intel logo goes away. Keep hitting it until you get to a menu with a bunch of options on it: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode With...

Try looking on the bottom of the motherboard.

How are you formatting your PC?

If you're trying to do it while logged onto Windows, that's your problem. You should do it from the Windows XP CD's Partition Manager.

If you're doing this with the AC Adapter plugged in, the problem is either with the DC Jack or the adapter itself. The latter is more likely, so look into this first.

If the DC jack isn't...

Unplug the four-pin connector from the board completely, and then try to turn on the computer again. If you get the exact same response, this could very well be the problem and you should look into...

To add to what the previous poster said, usually when you can't charge the battery and the AC Adapter isn't being recognized, the problem is with the DC Jack. Sometimes it's an internal breakage...

Often times, these cables are fragile and you could've easily broken some of the copper connectors on the inside of the cable by bending it on removal or re-insertion.

Given all the other facts of...